| Reviews : Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Unabridged 8 Audio Cassette Set) |
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Unabridged 8 Audio Cassette Set) Product By BBC Audiobooks Available From 1 Sellers |
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During his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths.Amazon.com Review
For most children, summer vacation is something to look forward to. But not for our 13-year-old hero, who's forced to spend his summers with an aunt, uncle, and cousin who detest him. The third book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series catapults into action when the young wizard "accidentally" causes the Dursleys' dreadful visitor Aunt Marge to inflate like a monstrous balloon and drift up to the ceiling. Fearing punishment from Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon (and from officials at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who strictly forbid students to cast spells in the nonmagic world of Muggles), Harry lunges out into the darkness with his heavy trunk and his owl Hedwig. As it turns out, Harry isn't punished at all for his errant wizardry. Instead he is mysteriously rescued from his Muggle neighborhood and whisked off in a triple-decker, violently purple bus to spend the remaining weeks of summer in a friendly inn called the Leaky Cauldron. What Harry has to face as he begins his third year at Hogwarts explains why the officials let him off easily. It seems that Sirius Black--an escaped convict from the prison of Azkaban--is on the loose. Not only that, but he's after Harry Potter. But why? And why do the Dementors, the guards hired to protect him, chill Harry's very heart when others are unaffected? Once again, Rowling has created a mystery that will have children and adults cheering, not to mention standing in line for her next book. Fortunately, there are four more in the works. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson
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Customer Reviews
By B. Williamson
My 9 year daughter asked me to read this, as she loved it. I can't imagine a more brilliant and talented author. Everyone with a bit of child in him or her must read this book!! Gripping, suspenseful and heart rendering at the end! Enjoy!!!!
By Todd Stockslager (Raleigh, NC)
My least favorite of the Harry Potter opus so far. The conclusion takes too long to unwind, without the eyes-glued-to-the-page excitement of the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2). Some fun new concepts are introduced--the helpful Marauder's Map, the creepy Dementors, the powerful Patronus--and two well-drawn new teachers are highlighted--Divinations Professor Trelawney providing comic relief and Dark Arts Professor Lupin providing the most useful instruction Harry's Hogwarts class has had in this subject, while at the same time driving the plot with a dark secret of his own.
But the tale, of Azkabanian prison escapee Sirius Black tracking Harry through the whole school year, takes too long to build up tension during the school year and too long to wrap up at the end. And Professor Snape again bares his angry hatred for Harry in an overwrought performance worthy of a bad B-movie actor or Harlequin romance character--which is precisely out-of-character enough to suggest to me, since Rowling is a better writer than this, that she is setting up Snape for a sudden change of heart in a later book, such as .the fourth book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4). Am I the only one who thinks that Snape is a strong character who should become a sympathetic character?
By Deborah G. Gaunt (Aliquippa Pa.)
The book came on time. I got this book for a Christmas gift for my daughter. She enjoys reading Harry Potter
By Catherine Hauck (Boone, IA United States)
Everyone (children and adults) loves a great "good vs. evil" story. I often think that something that everyone raves about just can't be as good as the say, but Harry Potter exceeds the reviews.
The incredibly rich detail in all the Harry Potter novels is really the best aspect of the story. JKR creates a whole world that readers can't forget about. There many subplots, but JKR keeps them all straight.
I can't tell you how great all the books in this series are, you'll have to read them for yourself. Harry Potter is the new Star Wars, the new Lord of the Rings. It already is a legend.
By MissionPk (Cupertino, CA United States)
Rowling could have written 6 adventure stories like Chamber of Secrets and people would still have loved Harry Potter. Azkhaban let people know that she had something extra in mind. Harry-Ron-Hermione-Hagrid, Harry-Lupin, Harry-Sirius, Harry-Dumbledore, James-Sirus-Lupin-Pettigrew. The book leaves behind the 'I'm a wizard!' focus of book 1 and the 'life at Hogwarts' focus of book 2, and turns to a real focus on friendship and love. These themes are continued in the later books, of course, though with an added element of death and loss. Here we get just the good stuff. Hard not to like that.
Somewhat surprisingly, the movie for book 3 actually improves the experience of reading the book. The time-travel sequence at the end is much better in the movie than in the book and, having seen the movie, the book's missteps can be overlooked.
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